Blaster Madness #10: 2019 Bowman Mega Box (Target Exclusive)

Twitter sometimes fools me. I see so many great cards being pulled from certain products with such frequency, I tend to start believing that every box must have a huge hit inside. Then I start drooling and making plans to get my hands on the product.

Such was the case with 2019 Bowman Mega Boxes. Each box had two packs of exclusive mojo refractors, and it seemed like everyone on Twitter pulled a Wander Franco auto in it. So when I saw a shelf full of Mega Boxes in a recent trip to Target, I decided to grab four. I told myself this was simply like buying four blasters since they were the same price. In a cruel twist of fate, I received a call from my boss as I walked out of the store to let me know that the project I was working on was being squashed and I was being laid off.

These boxes better pay off. Things aren't starting so well.

The fist box offered up an auto! Could it be Wander???

Of course not. I don't have that kind of luck. Instead, I pull an auto of Blaze Alexander. Interesting name, terrible signature.

The second box had no autos, but did offer up a bit of color:

A purple refractor of Lyon Richardson. I don't know anything about the guy, but color is better than base.

The third box was similar: no auto, but color:

A gold refractor of Ryan McKenna.

The fourth box had nothing in it, other than a base Wander. I guess I should count that as a win.

So I went home, head hanging low, accepting the defeat thrown to me by the cardboard gods.

Once I got home, I decided to sort the cards and enter the keepers into the Trading Card Database. On second look, that Wander looked a bit different...

Holy goodness, it's a super-short print! As I mentioned, I just lost my job, so let's see how much this guy is going for (after all, I have a tuition payment due soon)...I look it up and nearly pee myself in excitement. This card is selling well. I put mine on eBay and it sells within minutes!

What about you? Did you have any luck with the Mega Boxes?

Blaster Madness #9: 2019 Stadium Club, Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, I went back to Walmart and grabbed another blaster of 2019 Stadium Club. I also decided to grab a fat pack, just to see how those are packed out.

In retrospect, I should have stuck with the fat pack. The blaster was absolute garbage, with nearly every card being a duplicate from one of my first two blasters. So this post is just looking at the fat pack.

With that being said, there were only three cards to really talk about in the fat pack. First up:

These sepia parallels feel cheaper in this year's set. Maybe it's because they have a much larger print run, or maybe it's because there is far too much red in the toning...or maybe it's both...but I'm not a big fan. Still, this was in the pack. It isn't nearly as impressive as the next card.

The photography for this set. This is card #1, and it is so very deserving. This one happens to be the black foil parallel. It's a keeper.

Lastly, the odds of an autograph were stacked against me...

...especially an autograph numbered to 25. This is the black foil parallel of the Chance Adams rookie auto. Still, that signature has to be entered into the "Worst Signature of the Year" race. But, it's a low-numbered auto. I'll take it.

So there you have it, the best three cards from my fatpack. Anybody else have any retail mojo lately?

Blaster Madness #8: 2019 Topps Stadium Club

When this yer's version of Stadium Club debuted, y Twitter timeline was flooded with images from the set. As usual, Stadium Club offers the best overall photography of any set Topps offers, and this year did not disappoint. I made my way to Walmart to grab a couple of blasters a couple of days ago. Let's see how I did.

As I mentioned, the photography is second-to-none.

When sorting through my cards, I initially thought this was Babe Ruth. The photo definitely makes on think of the Great Bambino. Such a beautiful card.

However, this is the card that I fell in love with. This might be my favorite card of all time, and I have zero ties to Bench. Everything about this card is perfect. I dare anyone to find a better photo used in this year's set.

The only Ranger I pulled in my two blasters was this red foil parallel of Adrian Beltre. I'm not complaining. I pulled a few other parallels, as well (black foil, sepia).

This chrome parallel of Rickey Henderson was in my first blaster. I think this is the second year of Stadium Club featuring chrome parallels, but I could be wrong.

I pulled plenty of inserts, also, with this red foil Ronald Acuna Beam Team being the best one. According to the odds on the box, these fall one in every 193 packs. Not too shabby.

However, the best card of the two blasters was this beauty:

This is the Ken Griffey Jr. photo variation short print! Outside of a photo of the Kid's backswingm is there a more iconic photo of Griffey than one with his hat backwards?!

So, there are my first two blasters of 2019 Stadium Club. Full disclosure: I went back to the store the next day and bought another blaster and a fat pack. I'll share the results of those tomorrow.

Have you bought any Stadium Club this year? If so, what did you find?